Eating the occasional curry as part of a healthy eating plan could not be as bad for you as you may think, and could even help with weight loss, according to new research.

Spices have been found to aid a natural process of burning fat to create body heat, according to a feature on published by Mirror.co.uk.

Moreover, red and green chillies - a key curry ingredient - contain an active ingredient which speeds up metabolism, helping weight loss as well as reducing cholesterol.

In eight loss tests on rats at Maastricht University, Holland, the best results came from black pepper, coriander, turmeric, red chilli, cumin, ginger and onion.
[space added]
The ingredients are "shown to aid digestion and influence overall food intake", researchers told medical journal Physiology and Behaviour.

Other beneficial curry ingredients include garlic - good for a healthy heart as well as reducing blood pressure - and ginger, whose anti-inflammatory properties can help with sore joints while its antioxidants help strengthen the immune system.

Last but not least, the distinctively coloured spice turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties that help fight a range of health problems, including arthritis.